1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is directed generally to a housing for an electrical component such as a relay or the like and, more particularly, to a base or bottom wall of the housing provided with openings for terminal pins and gaps in the housing which are to be sealed.
2. Description of the Related Art
It is often necessary that electromechanical components, such as relays, be sealed in a housing which is liquid tight, or wash-fast, to avoid the penetration of wash solutions and soldering agents into the housing when the printed circuit boards on which the components are mounted are subject to corresponding treatments. Openings in the floor, or base, of the housing through which the terminal pins are conducted to the outside are usually to be sealed, as well as the edge gap between the base and the housing cap which is placed thereover.
It is already known to provide a network of grooves or channels in the outside surface of the housing base extending between one or more dosing locations and the sealing locations. Casting resin is deposited at the dosing locations and is conducted to the sealing locations via capillary action (as disclosed, for example in German Patent Document 28 51 329 C2 and German Patent Document 30 26 371 C2).
It is further known from European Published Application 0 262 622 A1, to provide raised distribution ribs on an otherwise planar outside surface of a housing base. The raised distributing ribs likewise develop a capillary action via the sharp inside edge between the distributing rib and the base surface, and thus convey the casting compound from dosing locations to sealing locations. The distributing action known capillary systems, however, is not adequate for certain housing designs.